We'll fight for every metre vows Zelensky as he fears new assault

So much for you pull-back, Putin: the shelling goes on

- Nicholas Cecil

UKRAINE’S president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed today that his troops would fight for “every metre of our land” as he braced his nation for a Russian onslaught in the eastern Donbas region.

He stressed that Vladimir Putin’s forces were massing for new attacks on the region which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk areas held by Moscow-backed separatists.

The Russian president is believed to be focusing his war efforts on the Donbas, including by deploying his private Wagner army of more than 1,000 mercenaries, after his lightning invasion plan to seize Kyiv within days failed. “There is an accumulation of Russian troops for strikes in Donbas and we are preparing for this,” said Mr Zelensky.

“We will not give up anything and we will fight for every metre of our land, for every person.”

He also poured a large dose of scepticism on a Kremlin statement that it would radically scale back operations around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv as part of moves to build trust towards a peace agreement.

“We do not believe anyone — we do not trust any beautiful verbal constructions,” he said. British defence chiefs warned that the suburbs of the capital are likely to be hit with “heavy fighting” within days between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

They also stressed that “significant” Russian shelling and air strikes were being unleashed on Chernihiv.